{"id":2771,"date":"2018-06-12T23:00:10","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T05:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/?p=2771"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:23:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T19:23:45","slug":"misspoken-or-mispronounced-words-and-phrases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/definitions\/misspoken-or-mispronounced-words-and-phrases\/","title":{"rendered":"Misspoken or Mispronounced Words and Phrases"},"content":{"rendered":"

Writing serves us well in communication by providing us with a framework for arranging words into clear and thoughtful statements, including opportunities for eloquence.<\/p>\n

Applying ourselves to concise writing can also reinforce articulate speech. We are often moved or impressed by those who express themselves with precision and power. Think of the historic public addresses by Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr.<\/p>\n

Conversely, misspeaking and mispronouncing words and phrases can quickly sabotage and discredit our intellectual or persuasive standing with another person. Plus, beyond sounding wrong, these verbal glitches can contaminate our writing. If our mind\u2019s ear hears or spells a word a certain way, we might wind up writing it as such as well.<\/p>\n

For this reason, we\u2019ve compiled some words and phrases to watch out for. Maybe some of us have tripped over a few, and perhaps a few have caused us all to fall. Some of the entries might surprise even the most well spoken among us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Word or Phrase (Glitch: S=misspoken, P=mispronounced)<\/strong><\/td>\nCorrect Treatment<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
affidavit (to mean written statement sworn before an official) (P)<\/td>\naf-i-DEY-vit not, af-i-DEY-vid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
all the sudden (S)<\/td>\nall of a sudden<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Antarctic (P); Arctic (P)<\/td>\nant-AHRK-tik, AHRK-tik; not ant-AHR-tik, AHR-tik<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Calvary (to mean military service that fights on horseback) (S)<\/td>\ncavalry (KAV-uhl-ree)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
chomp at the bit<\/a> (S)<\/td>\nchamp at the bit<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
et cetera (to mean \u201cand the rest\u201d) (P)<\/td>\net SET-er-uh, not ex-ET-er-uh, ek-SET-er-uh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
escape (P)<\/td>\nih-SKEYP, not ex-KEYP<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
espresso (P)<\/td>\ne-SPRES-oh, not ex-PRES-oh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
for all intensive purposes<\/a> (S)<\/td>\nfor all intents and purposes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
forte<\/a> (to mean strength or talent) (P)<\/td>\nfort, not for-TAY, FOR-tay, or for-tay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
genome (to mean full set of chromosomes) (P)<\/td>\nJEE-nohm, not geh-NOHM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
jaguar (P)<\/td>\nJAG-wahr, -yoo-ahr, not JAG-wire<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
larynx (P)<\/td>\nLAR-ingks, not LAR-niks<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
mayonnaise (P)<\/td>\nmey-uh-NEYZ; MEY-uh-neyz, not MAN-eyz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
meme (to mean cultural item transmitted by repetition) (P)<\/td>\nmeem, not mehm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
niche (to mean suitable position; distinct market segment) (P)<\/td>\nnich, not neesh<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
nuclear (P)<\/td>\nNOO-klee-er, not NOO-kyuh-ler or NOO-kyoo-ler<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
prescription (P)<\/td>\npri-SKRIP-shuhn, not per-SKRIP-shuhn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
probably (P)<\/td>\nPROB-uh-blee, not PROB-lee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Realtor (P)<\/td>\nREE-ul-ter (‘r\u0113 \u0259l t\u0259r), not REEL-uh-ter<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
take for granite (S)<\/td>\ntake for granted<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
veteran (P)<\/td>\nVET-er-uhn, not VEH-truhn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
veterinary (P)<\/td>\nVET-er-uh-ner-ee, not VEH-truh-ner-ee<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
voil\u00e0 (to mean \u201chere it is\u201d) (P)<\/td>\nvwah-LAH, not wah-LAH<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

You can find more often mispronounced words in our entry \u201cYou Lost Me After \u2018Feb\u2019<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we open our mouths, our minds are on parade. By devoting attention to proper phrasing and pronunciation, we can make sure what marches out sounds and lines up as it should.<\/p>\n

If you know of or come across other misspoken or mispronounced words and phrases that are becoming more prevalent, feel free to share them with us for possible inclusion in a future article!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Writing serves us well in communication by providing us with a framework for arranging words into clear and thoughtful statements, including opportunities for eloquence. Applying ourselves to concise writing can also reinforce articulate speech. We are often moved or impressed by those who express themselves with precision and power. Think of the historic public addresses […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,53,49,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-definitions","category-idioms","category-pronunciation","category-vocabulary"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2771"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6933,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2771\/revisions\/6933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.grammarbook.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}